Numbers 6–7

The Nazirite Vow

6The Lord instructed Moses: ²“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When a man or woman makes a special vow, a Nazirite vow, ^vto consecrate himself to ^wthe Lord, ³he is to abstain ^xfrom wine and beer. ^yHe must not drink vinegar made from wine or from beer. He must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins. ⁴He is not to eat anything produced by the grapevine, from seeds to skin, ^zduring his vow.

⁵“You must not cut his hair ^athroughout the time of his vow of consecration. He must be holy until the time is completed during which he consecrates himself to the Lord; he is to let the hair of his head grow long. ⁶He must not go near a dead body during the time he consecrates himself to the Lord. ^b7He is not to defile himself for his father or mother, or his brother or sister, when they die, because the hair consecrated to his God is on his head. ⁸He is holy to the Lord ^cduring the time of consecration.

⁹“If someone suddenly dies near him, defiling his consecrated head of hair, he must shave his head on the day of his purification; he is to shave it on the seventh day. ^d10On the eighth day he is to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ^e11The priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering ^fto make atonement on behalf of the Nazirite, since he sinned because of the corpse. On that day he must consecrate ^ghis head again. ^h12He is to rededicate his time of consecration to the Lord and to bring a year-old male lamb as a restitution offering. ⁱBut do not count the previous period, because his consecrated hair became defiled.

¹³“This is the law of the Nazirite: On the day his time of consecration is completed, he must be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting. ^j14He is to present an offering to the Lord ^kof one unblemished year-old male lamb as a burnt offering, one unblemished year-old female lamb as a sin offering, one unblemished ram as a fellowship offering, ^l15along with their grain offerings and drink offerings, ^mand a basket of unleavened cakes made from fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers coated with oil. ⁿ

¹⁶“The priest is to present these before the Lord and sacrifice the Nazirite’s sin offering and burnt offering. ¹⁷He will also offer the ram as a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened bread. Then the priest will offer the accompanying grain offering and drink offering.

¹⁸“The Nazirite is to shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the tent of meeting, take the hair from his head, and put it on the fire under the fellowship sacrifice. ¹⁹The priest is to take the boiled shoulder from the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them into the hands ^oof the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated head. ²⁰The priest is to wave them as a presentation offering before the Lord. ^pIt is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution. ^qAfter that, the Nazirite may drink wine.

²¹“This is the ritual of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord for his consecration, ^rin addition to whatever else he can afford; he must fulfill whatever vow he makes in keeping with the ritual for his consecration.”

The Priestly Blessing

²²The Lord spoke to Moses: ²³“Tell Aaron and his sons how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

²⁴May Yahweh bless you and protect you; ^s

²⁵may Yahweh make His face shine on you

and be gracious to you; ^t

²⁶may Yahweh look with favor on you ^u

and give you peace. ^vw

²⁷In this way they will pronounce My name over ^xthe Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Offerings from the Leaders

7On the day Moses finished setting up the tabernacle, ^yhe anointed and consecrated it and all its furnishings, along with the altar and all its utensils. After he anointed and consecrated these things, ²the leaders of Israel, the heads of their ancestral houses, presented an offering. They were the tribal leaders who supervised the registration. ^z3They brought as their offering before the Lord six covered carts and 12 oxen, a cart from every two leaders and an ox from each one, and presented them in front of the tabernacle.

⁴The Lord said to Moses, ⁵“Accept these from them to be used in the work of the tent of meeting, and give this offering to the Levites, to each division according to their service.”

⁶So Moses took the carts and oxen and gave them to the Levites. ⁷He gave the Gershonites two carts and four oxen corresponding to their service, ^a8and gave the Merarites four carts and eight oxen corresponding to their service, ^bunder the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. ⁹But he did not give any to the Kohathites, since their responsibility was service related to the holy objects ^ccarried on their shoulders. ^d

¹⁰The leaders also presented the dedication gift for the altar when it was anointed. ^eThe leaders presented their offerings in front of the altar. ¹¹The Lord told Moses, “Each day have one leader present his offering for the dedication of the altar.” ^f

¹²The one who presented his offering on the first day was Nahshon son of Amminadab ^gfrom the tribe of Judah. ¹³His offering was one silver dish weighing 3¼ pounds ^hand one silver basin weighing 1¾ pounds, ⁱmeasured by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ^j14one gold bowl weighing four ounces, ^kfull of incense; ¹⁵one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ^l16one male goat for a sin offering; ^m17and two bulls, five rams, five male breeding goats, and five male lambs a year old, for the fellowship sacrifice. ⁿThis was the offering of Nahshon son of Amminadab.

¹⁸On the second day Nethanel son of Zuar, ^oleader of Issachar, presented an offering. ¹⁹As his offering, he presented one silver dish weighing 3¼ pounds ^pand one silver basin weighing 1¾ pounds, ^qmeasured by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ²⁰one gold bowl weighing four ounces, ^rfull of incense; ²¹one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ²²one male goat for a sin offering; ²³and two bulls, five rams, five male breeding goats, and five male lambs a year old, for the fellowship sacrifice. This was the offering of Nethanel son of Zuar.

²⁴On the third day Eliab son of Helon, ^sleader of the Zebulunites, presented an offering. ²⁵His offering was one silver dish weighing 3¼ pounds ^tand one silver basin weighing 1¾ pounds, ^umeasured by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ²⁶one gold bowl weighing four ounces, ^vfull of incense; ²⁷one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ²⁸one male goat for a sin offering; ²⁹and two bulls, five rams, five male breeding goats, and five male lambs a year old, for the fellowship sacrifice. This was the offering of Eliab son of Helon.

³⁰On the fourth day Elizur son of Shedeur, ^wleader of the Reubenites, presented an offering. ³¹His offering was one silver dish weighing 3¼ pounds ^xand one silver basin weighing 1¾ pounds, ^ymeasured by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ³²one gold bowl weighing four ounces, ^zfull of incense; ³³one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ³⁴one male goat for a sin offering; ³⁵and two bulls, five rams, five male breeding goats, and five male lambs a year old, for the fellowship sacrifice. This was the offering of Elizur son of Shedeur.

³⁶On the fifth day Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, ^aleader of the Simeonites, presented an offering. ³⁷His offering was one silver dish weighing 3¼ pounds ^band one silver basin weighing 1¾ pounds, ^cmeasured by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ³⁸one gold bowl weighing four ounces, ^dfull of incense; ³⁹one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ⁴⁰one male goat for a sin offering; ⁴¹and two bulls, five rams, five male breeding goats, and five male lambs a year old, for the fellowship sacrifice. This was the offering of Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.

⁴²On the sixth day Eliasaph son of Deuel, ^efleader of the Gadites, presented an offering. ⁴³His offering was one silver dish weighing 3¼ pounds ^gand one silver basin weighing 1¾ pounds, ^hmeasured by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ⁴⁴one gold bowl weighing four ounces, ⁱfull of incense; ⁴⁵one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ⁴⁶one male goat for a sin offering; ⁴⁷and two bulls, five rams, five male breeding goats, and five male lambs a year old, for the fellowship sacrifice. This was the offering of Eliasaph son of Deuel. ^j

⁴⁸On the seventh day Elishama son of Ammihud, ^kleader of the Ephraimites, presented an offering. ⁴⁹His offering was one silver dish weighing 3¼ pounds ^land one silver basin weighing 1¾ pounds, ^mmeasured by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ⁵⁰one gold bowl weighing four ounces, ⁿfull of incense; ⁵¹one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ⁵²one male goat for a sin offering; ⁵³and two bulls, five rams, five male breeding goats, and five male lambs a year old, for the fellowship sacrifice. This was the offering of Elishama son of Ammihud.

⁵⁴On the eighth day Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, ^oleader of the Manassites, presented an offering. ⁵⁵His offering was one silver dish weighing 3¼ pounds ^pand one silver basin weighing 1¾ pounds, ^qmeasured by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a…